The Rule of Three is a basic communication principle that suggests that during written or oral communication, presenting information in threes is the best approach. This is because a three-part structure combines the brevity that helps us stay within the confines of working memory while also offering a sufficient amount of entities to create an interesting, identifiable pattern. Thus, using the Rule of Three can help us make our lecture content more engaging, enjoyable, and memorable.

Key Idea

People like things to be presented in threes and in particular like a beginning, middle, and end; thus, structuring your lecture using the Rule of Three can be a successful approach. To implement the Rule of Three as you write your lecture, develop your content in three main sections: (1) a beginning, (2) a middle, and (3) an ending. In each of these sections, consider including three points.

Beginning

1) Introduce the topic in a way that catches the students’ attention and helps them become interested in the topic, such as using one of the following options:

• Quotation
• Question
• Visual
• Statistic
• Physical object
• Startling statement
• Anecdote
• Story
• Personal experience
• Related and appropriate joke
• Sound effect
• Testimony or success story
• Expert opinion

2) After you have caught the reader’s attention, provide an overview of the topic that you will soon be explaining in more detail.

3) Tell students how you expect them to use the lecture material. For example, you might inform them that they will use it in a group activity or that they will need it for an upcoming quiz or exam. Or you might use this opportunity to define and explain any unfamiliar terms that you plan to use.

Middle

In this section, provide students with information about the topic in more detail. To do so, choose three main concepts, or content chunks, that you want to cover that represent the main educational content of the lecture. Chunking the information will enable students to relate smaller details to bigger ideas.

In addition to the larger chunks, you will also want to generate examples that demonstrate these key points to facilitate student retention of information. These may be passages from a text, historical examples, selected data from a report, and so forth. Choose examples that you can explain fully in a few minutes and that broaden or deepen students’ understanding of the subject matter. You might even continue the Rule of Three by providing three details for each content chunk.

Ending

Bring the topic to a close, again using the Rule of Three. For example:

• Provide students with a summary of the three key points from the middle.
• Check understanding with a question and eliciting a quick show of hands, ask students to write a minute paper, or assign some other task that requires students to process the content you covered in the middle section of the lecture.
• Provide students with something that will keep them talking about the topic. For example, you might pose a question for students to consider further, assign a problem for further analysis, or offer a thesis or proof that explains the information you gave earlier. Such a conclusion will help students retain the other details you included in your lecture.

Excerpted and adapted from Interactive Lecturing: A Handbook for College Faculty by Elizabeth F. Barkley, Claire H. Major. Copyright ©, 2018, Wiley. All rights reserved.